VICTORVILLE — Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty with his Economic Opportunity Act, experts say it appears that America is nowhere close to declaring victory.

As the Southern California Association of Governments and the Southern California Leadership Council readies for its War on Poverty Summit on Wednesday in Los Angeles, Victor Valley and regional leaders note the poverty rate has increased almost 2 percent in the past 50 years.

“We live in a different time and different world,” said Hesperia resident Roy Spotti, who recently turned 100. “Programs and initiatives that were started to help people in need over the decades have turned into excuses for some people not to work.”

Some of the entitlements or initiatives spearheaded by the Johnson administration remain today: Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, Job Corps, VISTA, Title I and food stamps.

Locally, most area cities have a significant number of residents receiving one form of entitlement or another. According to 1st District Supervisor Robert Lovingood, the latest figures for San Bernardino County show 54 percent of the city of San Bernardino’s residents receive government assistance, the highest rate among county cities.

However, two High Desert cities are close behind San Bernardino. Lovingood said 53 percent of all Barstow residents receive some assistance, as do 52.9 percent of all Adelanto residents. He said Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley all were in the 30-percent range.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the definition of poverty in America is determined by 48 possible poverty thresholds or measured needs, which include family size and ages of those in the household.

As a general rule, poverty guidelines for families/households in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is one person at $11,670; two people at $15,730; three people at $19,790 and four people at $23,850.

With a very limited income, Sandi Carlos of Victorville said she is doing all she can to help feed, clothe and care for six people in her household.

“My son gets disability and my daughter works, so we have about $1,800 coming in every month,” Carlos said. “Our rent is $900, so after utilities there’s not much left.”

According to Carlos, her household includes her disabled son, Jarrod Mincey, 29; daughter Reanna Sanchez, 24; two grandchildren and a family friend who has several medical issues.

“We currently get food stamps, but after my daughter got her job they cut back her food stamp allowance. After she had the babies, they cut back her cash aid,” Carlos said. “How can you survive with all these cutbacks?”

Carlos said when the closet or food pantry goes bare, she relies on the Victor Valley Rescue Mission in downtown Victorville.

The Riverside and San Bernardino metro areas have the highest poverty rates among the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. Nearly 18 percent of the population in Riverside County lives below the poverty line.

SCAG reports that the true “market poverty” rate is actually higher today, at 28.7 percent, than the 27 percent figure that prompted LBJ to start the War on Poverty.

In the six-county SCAG region, the number of people living below the poverty line grew from 1.89 million in 1990 to 3.2 million in 2012. Today, one in four children in the SCAG region lives in poverty.

According to the Cato Institute, in 2012 the federal government spent $668 billion to fund 126 separate anti-poverty programs. State and local governments kicked in another $284 billion, bringing total anti-poverty spending to nearly $1 trillion. That amounts to $20,610 for every poor person in America, or $61,830 per poor family of three.

SCAG officials say job creation that moves people from dependency to self-sufficiency remains the biggest weapon in the War on Poverty.

But Jason Lamoreaux, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial HomeSource Real Estate, said entitlement programs have “handcuffed” some employers. They have difficulty attracting workers because they “couldn’t compete with welfare.”

“Some people are in that gray area right now where if a job comes along that pays $2 more over welfare, they’ll stick with the assistance,” Lamoreaux said.

Lamoreaux isn’t the only one who believes that government programs actually fuel the poverty problem.

Joseph W. Brady, president of The Bradco Companies brokerage firm, says the state of California provides absolutely no incentive for impoverished residents to change their lives.

“The state continually encourages people to sign up for entitlement programs that in some cases are generational,” Brady said. “The state of California encourages people to become dependent on their entitlement programs and after a period of time, who would want the incentive to end?”

Brady said until California and its voters get fed up and encourage those from the private sector to run for positions in state government, nothing will change.

“While we have a small percentage of those elected to state and federal government that actually have true business experience, we need to change the dynamics of electing those to office that have no real experience in business,” Brady said. “We should make our elected officials’ annual compensation tied to what they can do to create jobs and wealth rather than regulations and increased unemployment.”

“Overall the economy is improving and hopefully people will get back to work and we’ll see the poverty level drop,” Lamoreaux said. “One issue is low-cost housing in the Inland Empire, which people believe brings a high proportion of unemployed.”

“I think entitlement programs are good for those people who really need it,” he said. “But some people have exploited the system by taking advantage of the programs.”

Community leader and former Adelanto Mayor Charley Glasper said poverty is a result of “unpreparedness.”

“I talk to a lot of kids, and I ask them about the future and where they plan to go to school or go to work,” said Glasper, 78, who is on the board of the Adelanto Community Resource Center and several other organizations. “Many of them are clueless and have no idea what they’re going to do. Those are the ones who will find themselves in poverty.”

Glasper said he went into the Air Force in 1955 at age 19 and made $78 per month for years. During his time in the military, Glasper attended school and eventually earned his degree in business management.

“I had to make up my mind as to what I wanted, as to how I was going to fit into society in the future,” Glasper said. “My friends laughed at me back then and told me that I was wasting my time, but my basic needs were being met. Today, I have my degree and I get a handsome retirement check from the government.”

“My parents worked in the field picking tobacco and cotton,” Glasper said. “They did what they had to do to get by, because some money is better than no money. Government assistance is not always the answer, but working is.”

Glasper said people need to focus on jobs that will meet their basic needs before going out and demanding a huge payday.

“I go back to what God told Adam in the Garden of Eden — it’s time to work by the sweat of your brow,” Glasper said. “Working hard has always been a key factor in life, not sitting around getting assistance.”

Former California Gov. Gray Davis, prominent civil rights activist Constance Rice (cousin of Condoleezza Rice) and John Husing, chief economist for the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, will be among the speakers.

For more information and to register for the free event, visit www.scag.ca.gov/povertysummit or call 213-236-1826.

Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227, RDeLa Cruz@VVDailyPress.com or on Twitter@DP_ReneDeLaCruz.